PACE Theme 2 (drilling partnerships with PIRSA and industry): Year 2 partnership DPY2-10, Watraba (eastern Eucla Basin) heavy mineral sands prospect. Project final report.
Published: 18 Dec 1906 Created: 11 Nov 2024 Revised: 11 Nov 2024

This partly PACE-funded drilling project aimed to discover a heavy mineral sand deposit along the eastern margin of the Eucla Basin in the EL 3363 Watraba project area, located 40 kilometres north to north-west of Ceduna. Drilling tested an...

This partly PACE-funded drilling project aimed to discover a heavy mineral sand deposit along the eastern margin of the Eucla Basin in the EL 3363 Watraba project area, located 40 kilometres north to north-west of Ceduna. Drilling tested an interpreted J-shaped bay and headland feature visible in the digital terrain data, that occurs in a similar geomorphic setting and topographic level to Iluka's Ambrosia, Jacinth, Tripitaka and Gulliver mineral sands discoveries. A total of 157 aircore holes totalling 4156.6 m were completed during June-July 2006. Most drillholes terminated in variably weathered Precambrian basement, usually saprolitic clays derived from a gneissic granite parent. The basement is overlain by thin and patchy sequences of poorly sorted, clayey fluvial sands and lag, interpreted as Hampton Sands, passing upwards into variable thicknesses of clean, well sorted fine sands interpreted as Ooldea Sand. Locally thick, clean sands sometimes present stratigraphically below the Ooldea Sand and Hampton Sands units are ascribed to the Barton Sand, and such occurrences were encountered in several of the PACE drillholes, but are not widespread in the tenement area. Organic-rich Pidinga Formation occurring stratigraphically below the Barton Sand unit was present in two holes. The Ooldea Sand is generally capped by a silcrete and overlain by varying thicknesses of Quaternary aeolian sand, calcrete, silcrete and clayey sands. Bridgewater Formation calc-aeolianite is present in the south of the tenement area. Drill testing of the interpreted J-shaped bay and headland feature failed to identify any significant zones of economic heavy mineral concentrations. It is now inferred that the historic Ooldea shoreline environment which is prospective for heavy mineral sand deposits is either located further east or has been eroded from the profile. Limited potential remains for heavy mineral concentrations in deep water facies of the Ooldea Sand.

More +

About this record

Record No mesac21438
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
Contributor
Sponsor
Tenement EL 3363
Tenement Holder Red Metal Ltd
Operator
Geological Province Eucla Basin
Mine Name Watraba prospect
Stratigraphy
Commodity
Notes
Notes: PACE project code DPY2-10 : company submissions includes exploration drilling actual total cost ($61,307.00 excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $25,000.00 (excl. GST).
Geographic Locality:...

Notes: PACE project code DPY2-10 : company submissions includes exploration drilling actual total cost ($61,307.00 excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $25,000.00 (excl. GST). Geographic Locality: Ceduna;Watraba;Penong;Koonibba;Kalanbi;White Well Corner;Murat Bay Doc No: Env 11281 Drillhole: AC WT001 - WT088;(229592 - 229597;(229600);(229602);(229603);(229620 - 229624);(229715 - 229787);AC WT094 - WT162;(229793 - 229797);(229815 - 229841) Drillhole Unit No: 5533 00331;THROUGH;5533 00337;5534 00335;5534 00400;5534 00404;5534 00449

More +

Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac21438
Citation Rutherford, R. 1906. PACE Theme 2 (drilling partnerships with PIRSA and industry): Year 2 partnership DPY2-10, Watraba (eastern Eucla Basin) heavy mineral sands prospect. Project final report. Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac21438

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[133,-32.5],[133.5,-32.5],[133.5,-31.5],[133,-31.5],[133,-32.5]]]}
Purpose

                    
                    

                    
                  
Lineage